While freelancing as a writer/photographer for Rodder’s Digest magazine in 1982, Rick Love created a home workshop and leaned on his electronics degree to do wiring and air conditioning installations for other hot rodders. It was this A/C work that caught the attention of SEMA Hall of Famer and founder of Vintage Air Jack Chisenhall. Chisenhall asked Love to assist the company at rodding events, and continued to promote him over the years to his current position of president, in charge of overseeing the day-to-day operations of the entire company. Despite his busy schedule at Vintage Air, Love never wavers to volunteer his time, expertise, and energy to helping the industry. As a true car guy, he advocates for the industry. Having served multiple terms as chairman of the SEMA Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA), Love is an ambassador for SEMA and constantly recruits and encourages businesses to get involved.

Jessi Combs built an accomplished career in the automotive industry as the host of several television programs, founder of a variety of businesses, and an accomplished fabricator and racecar driver. With an infectious passion and youthful enthusiasm for the industry, Combs served as a host for many SEMA events, including the SEMA Installation & Gala and the SEMA Awards Banquet at the SEMA Show. As a lead in the historic 2012 SEMA Businesswomen’s Network (SBN) All-Female Ford Mustang Build, Combs served as a role-model for women in the industry and continued to inspire women through the launch of The Real Deal, a collaboration with fellow SBN member Theresa Contreras designed to inspire confidence, break stereotypes, and motivate other women to pursue their passions. In 2019, Combs set a land speed record for women, 522.783 mph, on a dry lake bed in Oregon – a feat that resulted in an accident that led to her untimely death at the age of 39.

Robert Eugene “Gene” Winfield is an American automotive customizer and fabricator who has been involved in the industry for over 70 years. He started building hot rods in the backyard of his mother’s house in the 1940s, and came to national prominence in 1959 with a stunning quad-headlight take on a 1956 Mercury two-door hardtop immortalized as the Jade Idol. Besides fashioning his own unique brand of customs, Winfield became famous for inventing the fade paint job. Winfield also played a key role in promoting custom car modifications to the general public by supplying modified cars for movies and TV shows, including a vehicle in the iconic 1982 film Blade Runner. No fewer than three Winfield creations have won the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award, which is the Best Picture Oscar of the hot-rod world. Revered as "The King Of Kustoms", Winfield was featured in the first DVD in a series called The Kings Of Kustoms - a documentary highlighting car customizers.

For more than 40 years, Jack Roush has been committed to winning on and off the race track. Early in his career, he founded Roush & Gapp -- a race team he formed with Wayne Gapp that won multiple championships in NHRA, IHRA, and AHRA Pro Stock drag racing. Later, he established Jack Roush Performance Engineering and began supplying racing engines and components for drag, oval-track, and hill-climb cars as well as for offshore power boat contenders. In 1984, Roush was commissioned by the Ford Motor Co. to develop cars and engines for the SCCA Trans-Am and IMSA Camel GT racing series. Roush further expanded his Roush Racing operations in 1988, before establishing Roush Fenway Racing in 2007. The team has claimed two NASCAR Cup Championships, four NASCAR Xfinity championships, and one NASCAR Truck Series title. Roush also made major safety contributions to stock car racing, including the development of roof flaps to prevent rollovers. In addition to his racing successes, Roush is founder and chairman of Roush Enterprises, a global supplier of product development services, including design, engineering, prototyping, testing, and manufacturing; he oversees Roush Performance Products, a supplier of aftermarket performance parts; and he manages Roush CleanTech, a manufacturer of alternative fuel systems.

Walker Evans began off-road racing in 1969 and became the first off-road racer to win the Baja 1000 as a driver of a full-sized truck in 1979. Over the course of his career, he has won more than 150 off-road desert and short course races, including championships in the Baja 500, Baja 1000, Fireworks 250, Mint 400, and Parker 400. Beyond racing, Evans is a pioneer in the off-road market, having collaborated closely with automakers such as Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge; worked with major tire manufacturers and suppliers; developed purpose-built products to meet off-road racers’ needs; and paved the way for new opportunities and growth. In 2004, Evans joined SEMA as a delegate on a visit to China to develop new business opportunities and partnerships for the industry. Evans is a role model who inspires young members to deal with emerging technologies and intense legislation, and promotes innovation and creativity in sustaining SEMA, as well as the racing and high-performance industries.